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Sir: I object to your disregard for the context of my remarks on the use of marijuana [Aug. 16]. My first remark was to suggest that any judgment on the morality of marijuana must be based on conclusive medical and psychiatric studies, which at present are not available. My second remark was that the effect of pot on one's relationships with people would also be a necessary ingredient in reaching any ethical conclusions. My third remark was that one's personal motivation would be the final crucial element in developing a position on pot, assuming that medical, psychiatric and sociological studies indicated no detrimental results. When asked how motivation would figure in such a judgment, I gave the example attributed to me, intending to suggest that if one were using pot to escape from society or himself, then it could hardly be called a moral style of behavior.
TERRY L. COOPER Los Angeles
Bitter Pill
Sir: Your article "The Plight of the Black Doctor" [Aug. 23] completely shattered my belief that education would eventually solve a lot of the segregation problems. For if white doctors, with more education than most, treat Negro doctors with the same education so abominably, how can the average person be expected to be any better? For heaven's sake, what is the matter with those white doctors? Doctors more than any other people should realize that the only difference between black and white is pigmentation and certain physical characteristics that, I believe, involve only the outward appearance of the face and hair.
ELIZABETH AHLES Olympia, Wash.
But Aim Low
Sir: With respect to your article on corporal punishment of children [Aug. 16], it appears that the courts agree with the teachers. In Rupp v. Zinter, 29 Pa. D.C. 625, the court, while deploring the boxing of a pupil's ear, pointed out that nature had provided a part of the anatomy suitable for chastisement, and that tradition held that such chastisement should be there applied. The right of a teacher to punish a pupil is based upon the fact that they have assumed the parents' role while junior is in school. If they have it coming, swing away, but aim low and that law will protect you.
LAWRENCE J. NELSON Topeka, Kans.
The Navigator
Sir: My brother is a victim of the Church of Scientology [Aug. 23]. I have stood by while he has poured money into tuition, literature and E-meters. One of the concepts of Scientology is that a spiritual part of the being has lived before. By means of extensive, costly research, my brother has determined that he was a navigator on a ship in the 15th century.
BUFF GRAY Newton Center, Mass.
Fact of the Matter